Titanium vs. Carbon - what is better

[Maciek]

I understand that racing and carving are different howeve one would have doubts who needs more control.

As F2 says:

"Advancements from 2005: Titanium was substituted by

carbon for better control in technical sections..."

That seems to be on both GS and slalom models (RS and SL).

On the other hand we see many racers going to Kessler (and not only) with its titanium solution. Are Bruhin, Bozzetto and Huet on those... or on titanium special models for their competitions?

I am confused about that "control". I have always thought that racers need more control and that was the reason of improvement... or perhaps carvers do not need to have that much control on slope

[Chris Houghton]

I would think that it has more to do with how much is used and where it is applied, rather than what is used. Overall carbon sheets like Virus make the board sound brittle, there's a real "ping" to it, and torsionally it's fantastic. Carbon strips like F2 uses are not anywhere near as noticeable, but seem to work well too. The Titanal stuff I've ridden is more about damp edge hold, but again it depends. I don't think there's a universal ranking of materials, but more a variety of outcomes based on the combination and application. Try before you buy, or talk to the builder(NOT the marketing department).

[philfell]

Titanium is different from Titinal.

Most board builders who are useing Titinal also use carbon as well. Many use carbon in place of fiberglass.

[Guest jschal01]

Metal and carbon are serving two different functions in a board. Carbon can provide stiffness and/or pop depending onhow it's laid up, but too much of this and the board feels nervous or coltish.

As for the dichotomy between carving and racing drawn on this board, it's a little artificial unless you're approaching freecarving as solely a ballet type of thing, instead of simply one of the many things you might do on a snowboard. I think many of the freecarvers I see might benefit from some metal in their board, if the bonding issues are sorted out and if they get it in a board suited to their performance level rather than a (much better, stronger) racer's.

[philfell]

Bonding issues have been sorted out by the ski companyies for more than a decade. Titinal is hard to work with, but the companies that build with it don't have too many issues with delaming. I only know of one board builder who wont use the material because of bonding issues. Is it the material or the builder?????? There are other issues however that are legit.

[Guest jschal01]

PhilFell,

Rossi might argue whether the delam issues with metal have been sorted out for skis, or not, yet. :lol: Sorry, couldn't help myself. Actually you're right, they have been sorted for skis for some time, [edit to add:]for Rossi it's more a materials choice issue with the delam.

[philfell]

Again is it a problem with the material or the builder. If there are more than ten ski builders using the stuff and Rossi can't figure it out........ Then the problem must be with the material :rolleyes:

[Guest jschal01]

Again is it a problem with the material or the builder. If there are more than ten ski builders using the stuff and Rossi can't figure it out........ Then the problem must be with the material :rolleyes:

Bit of a digression which I had started, so apologies, but in Rossi's case it's the foam in conjunction with the metal that's the issue, not the metal per se. But, the foam is what makes them such a great ski. I'm confident that Rossi could get rid of the foam and avoid the delam issues.